About Portals

Modern software is complex and expensive, which has motivated many companies to invest in enterprise portals as a mechanism by which they can manage information in a cohesive and structured fashion.

Portals offer many advantages over other software applications. First, they provide a single point of entry for employees, partners, and customers. Second, portals can access Web services transparently from any device in virtually any location. Third, portals are highly flexible; they can exist in the form of B2E intra-nets, B2B extra-nets, or B2C inter-nets. Fourth, portals can be combined to form a portal network that can span a companys entire enterprise system, allowing for access both inside and outside the firewall.

Portals have many advantages, which is why they have become the de facto standard for Web application delivery. In fact, analysts have predicted that portals will become the next generation for the desktop environment.

Portals distinguish themselves from other software systems because they provide the ability to integrate disparate systems and leverage the functionality provided by those systems. As such, they are not mutually exclusive, and do not force you into an either-or decision vis-a-vis existing software systems. This point is of paramount importance, particularly when you consider the fact that Web services are destined to fuel the explosion of Web applications. Since portals can access any Web services, the conclusion is inescapable: portals provide a unique opportunity to leverage the functionality of nascent technologies as well as mature, well-established software systems.

Pluto

Pluto is the Reference Implementation of the Java Portlet Specification. The current version of this Portlet specification is JSR 362 Portlet Specification 3.0 Portlets are designed to run in the context of a portal. They are written to the Portlet API. Pluto implements the contract, the Portlet API, between portlets and portals. Pluto is a portlet container.